• Digital Battlespace

  Washington remains silent on Missile Defence Review timeline

  16th November 2018

  The US DoD has finished conducting a review of its missile defence efforts but has not yet decided when the results will be released, according …

• Training

  I/ITSEC 2018: ECS makes medical scenario HaptX

  28th November 2018

  Six years on from the ideas stage, HaptX Gloves, in partnership with ECS, are demonstrating for the first time at I/ITSEC 2018 in Orlando the turnkey system designed …

• Naval Warfare

  Austal to build two additional LCS

  21st December 2018

  Austal USA has received a contract from the US Navy to build two additional Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), the company announced on 18 September. The …

• Naval Warfare

  USCG receives Minotaur missionised HC-130J

  17th December 2018

  The US Coast Guard (USCG) has received a HC-130J Super Hercules long range surveillance aircraft equipped with the Minotaur mission system suite at Elizabeth City, …

• Special Operations

  US Navy goes for MOHOC

  22nd November 2018

  Illustrating the proliferation of special operations technology throughout more conventional force components in the US Department of Defense (DoD), the US Navy Expeditionary Command has …

• Defence Notes

  Japan rebukes S. Korea for weapons radar lock on military aircraft

  21st December 2018

  Japan rebuked South Korea Friday after claiming one of the country's warships had locked its weapons targeting system onto a Japanese military aircraft. South Korea's …

• Naval Warfare

  US Navy pursuing shipyard upgrades

  14th December 2018

  The US Navy, which recently released a $21 billion, 20-year plan to modernise its four public shipyards, is moving ahead with making the document a …

• Naval Warfare

  USS Billings completes acceptance trials

  14th December 2018

  The US Navy’s Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the future USS Billings, has successfully completed acceptance trials in the waters of Lake Michigan, Lockheed Martin …

• Land Warfare

  US Army explores enhanced lethality possibilities on Stryker

  12th December 2018

  The US Army continues to explore counter-UAS (C-UAS) capabilities and new gun possibilities for its Stryker armoured vehicle. In November 2018 Northrop Grumman successfully demonstrated …

• Naval Warfare

  Fairbanks Morse to power USCG OPC 2

  18th December 2018

  Fairbanks Morse has received a contract to deliver the main propulsion diesel engines (MPDE) for the US Coast Guard’s second Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), USCGC Chase, …

• Digital Battlespace

  Cohort acquires Chess Technologies

  18th December 2018

  Cohort has acquired a majority stake in Chess Technologies, a UK-based integrated fire control and tracking systems provider for military vehicles and naval ships. Chess …

• Defence Helicopter

  EDEX 2018: APKWS production set to surge

  11th December 2018

  BAE Systems is set to increase the production of its Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) laser-guided rocket substantially next year. Given the high usage …

• Digital Battlespace

  Serco receives CANES task orders

  18th December 2018

  Serco has received task orders totalling $46 million as part of the US Navy's Consolidated Afloat Networks Enterprise Services (CANES) IDIQ multiple-award contract. Under the …

• Special Operations

  NSW seeks canine support

  17th December 2018

  US Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) is seeking to identify companies with the ability to provide “a full spectrum of Multi-Purpose Canine (MPC) Support Services.” …

• Military Logistics

  TAE Aerospace begins TEMF facility build

  19th November 2018

  Ground has been broken on TAE Aerospace’s new turbine engine maintenance facility (TEMF) site in Bundamba, south-east Queensland, the the Australian Department of Defence announced …

Programme Results - Defence Insight

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 3 AE (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Military Aid - $300 Million On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine to "bolster Urkaine's capacity ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165 Special Ops HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HHMWV, or Humvee, has been in US service since 1983. The M1165A1B3 is a special operations variant of the platform.  In 2015, the US ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 300 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background Presidential Drawdown (16 March 2022 & 13 April 2022) On 16 March 2022, President Biden announced $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine through ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank [US]

  Programme Background As IAI stated in a 19 January 2023 press release, it had been awarded a multi-million-dollar contract by the Irregular Warfare Technical Support ...

• Loitering munitions

  Switchblade 600 (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background $300 Million USAI (1 April 2022) On 1 April 2022, the US DoD announced a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine following ...

• Military UAS - mini

  Puma LE [Kosovo]

  Background Contract Award On 21 January 2022, the US Department of Defence (DoD) announced that AeroVironment had been awarded an $11.01 million firm-fixed contract for Puma ...

• Loitering munitions

  ALTIUS-600M (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Programme Background On 24 February 2023, the US DoD announced that the Biden Administration had released an additional aid package under the Ukraine Security Assistance ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1152A1B2/M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• MPVs - 4x4

  M1165A1B3 HMMWV [USA]

  Background The HMMWV has been in US service since the 1980s. Despite the introduction of newer platforms, the US DoD continues to utilise the platform ...

• Loitering munitions

  Phoenix Ghost (Ukraine Aid) [US]

  Background Presidential Drawdown Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, on 21 April 2022, President Biden announced an $800 million Presidential Drawdown security ...

• Loitering munitions

  Lethal Unmanned Systems (LUS): Switchblade [US]

  Background DoD Contract On 27 August 2024, the US DoD announced that AeroVironment had been awarded a ceiling $990 million hybrid (cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price) contract to provide “an ...

• Military UAS - small

  Puma 2 AE [Estonia]

  Programme Background The US DoD announced that it had awarded AeroVironment an $8.868 million firm-fixed-price contract to supply an undisclosed number of RQ-20B Puma AE ...

• Transport/tanker aircraft

  KC-46A (3-6) [Japan]

  On 30 October 2020, the US DoD announced that it awarded a $342 million contract to Boeing for two Japanese KC-46A tanker aircraft. Work will be performed ...

• APCs/IFVs - 8x8

  ACV-30 PRTV [USA]

  Background The Armoured Combat Vehicle (ACV) programme is intended to provide a replacement for the USMC's fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicle 7 (AAV7) tracked vehicles. ...

• Military UAS - MALE

  XQ-58A Valkyrie [USMC]

  Programme Background Contract Award On 30 December 2022, the US DoD announced that it had awarded Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems a $15.52 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to ...

Equipment Results - Defence Insight

• Pistols

  M9

  M9 is the US DoD designation for the military-specification 9mm Beretta 92FS, selected in 1985 to replace the 45cal M1911A1 in US service. Sales to ...

• Man-portable missile systems

  Igla/SA-18

  The 9K38 Igla (US DoD designation SA-18, NATO reporting name Grouse ) IR-homing MANPADS was developed by KBM and entered service in 1983 to meet the requirements ...

• Loitering munitions

  Point Blank

  Point Blank Weapon System is a hand-launched electro-optical VTOL-capable loitering munition developed by Isreal Aerospace Industries (IAI). IAI has been awarded a contract by the US ...

• Military UAS - small

  ScanEagle 3

  Insitu unveiled the ScanEagle 3 at the Xponential exhibition in Denver in May 2018. The platform has twice the payload capacity of its ScanEagle predecessor ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  BAT-850

  Pathfinder's BAT-850 VSAT is a carbon fibre, tri-band terminal with auto-acquisition capability. Suitable for flyaway (case-based) and vehicle-mounted applications, it is in service with the ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  URC-300

  The URC-300 is a software-defined radio designed for line-of-sight, ground-to-air communications in particular. Introduced in 2020, it adheres to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards as well ...

• Air: aerial targets

  BQM-177A/i

  The BQM-177A subsonic aerial target (SSAT) was designed for the USN, and the BQM-177i is the export variant. The BQM-177 provides realistic threat emulation for ...

• Land: Radio and SATCOM

  Banshee Tactical Radio

  Developed by Fenix Group, the Banshee Tactical Radio (BTR) is a communications system that uses 4G/LTE connectivity to provide secure mesh networking capability on the ...

• Crew-served grenade launchers

  Striker 40/MK47

  General Dynamics is systems integrator for the Striker 40 (MK47 AGL in US service). The complete system comprises the weapon, AN/PWG-1 Lightweight Video Sight and ...

• Air: Radio and SATCOM

  AN/ARC-231 Skyfire

  The AN/ARC-231 Skyfire is an airborne VHF/UHF/LOS and DAMA SATCOM system. This system supports US DoD requirements for airborne, multi-band, multi-mission, secure anti-jam voice, data ...

• Air-to-air missiles

  9M39 Igla-V

  The 9M39 Igla-V (‘needle’) is a Russian IR homing SAM adapted for helicopter use. It is an air-launched version of the Igla MANPADS, which the ...

• Military UAS - HALE

  Global Observer

  The AeroVironment Global Observer HALE UAV was a developmental HALE UAV designed for various civil, commercial and government applications.  Development of the platform began in 2007 ...

• Directed energy weapons

  CLWS

  Developed by Boeing, Compact Laser Weapon System (CLWS or CLaWS) is a medium-range, low-power laser C-UAS system. According to the reports, the CLWS prototype has ...

• Weapon sights for day use

  CompM4/M4s

  The US DoD has bought over one million Aimpoint sights since 1997. The US Army is now fielding the CompM4s as the latest version of ...

• Data links, Land: Radio and SATCOM, UAS: communication systems

  QNT-200

  The Collins QNT-200 is a dual-channel software-defined radio (SDR) designed for size, weight and power-constrained platforms. Using IP-based mesh networks, it offers high-bandwidth mobile networking ...